"Callow Cal"
presided over unprecedented prosperity
in the United States. Honest and
forthright but with flawed economic policies, he did not run for a second
term, leaving his successor, Herbert
Hoover, to bear the burden when the economy
collapsed.

He soon ran for local office,
and by 1914 was president of the Massachusetts Senate, then lieutenant-governor, and finally
governor (1919-1920) of the state.

His use of the state
militia to break the Boston police
strike of 1919 brought him national notice.

Elected vice-president in
the Republican Harding administration
(1920), his personal honesty protected
him from Harding's corruption scandals.

Upon receiving the news of Harding's death (August 2, 1923), Coolidge took the
oath of office
at 2:47 am on August 3rd in his Vermont boyhood
home, where he had gone on vacation. His
father, John Coolidge, the local notary public,
administered the oath by the light of a kerosene lamp, as the house had neither electricity nor telephone.

The only president to have been born on Independence Day, Coolidge served out the remainder of Harding's term (1923-1925) and then, having won the 1924 election, served from 1925 until March 4, 1929.

Political Philosophy

His political
philosophy was one of laissez-faire toward
business, less spending for government,
and tax cuts for everyone, policies later revived by President Ronald Reagan.

After World War I, some
people wanted the US to forgive the war
loans it had made to Europe because of
the hardship it would cause the devastated
countries to repay them. Coolidge's response
was "They hired the money,
didn't they?"

The raging prosperity during
his time in office (1923-1929) cast a warm
glow on him personally and seemed
to confirm
the wisdom of his policies, which historians now believe contributed to
the economic crisis of 1929 and the subsequent Depression.

As he (later) put it so
astutely, "When
a great many people are unable to find
work, unemployment results."

Coolidge chose not to run for
a second elected term (even though he probably
would have won), instead supporting the candidacy of Herbert
Hoover, his Secretary of Commerce. This proved wise, as
the economic crisis occurred after Coolidge had left office.

Character & Personality

His New England honesty
and down-to-earth simplicity served
him well in politics, and contributed
greatly to his popularity.

Although he frequently used the press and radio to communicate with the American people, he was famously taciturn in private conversation, and disliked chit-chat.
As he put it, "I've noticed that
nothing I've never said has hurt me."

A
woman who sat next to Coolidge at a dinner
party once bet
that she could get him to say at least three words. Coolidge didn't even look
at her as he answered "You
lose."

Coolidge was famous for
sleeping at least eight hours each night,
taking
long
naps
during the day, and not even opening his
mouth during interviews. In
1933 when someone told New York poet, wit
and writer Dorothy Parker that Coolidge
was
dead, her response was "How
can they tell?"

His last will and testament
was 23 words long.

His boyhood
home in PlymouthVT
is now a museum,
and Coolidge descendants ran the
local
cheese factory for many years. More...